Composer Menotti hosting Girls Chorus benefit

Jane Ganahl, OF THE EXAMINER STAFF

Published 4:00 am, Tuesday, March 18, 1997

MARCH IS National Music Education Month, and there is no better example of a successful program that teaches young people about the joys of music than the San Francisco Girls Chorus. Thanks to their extensive outreach program, the deep cuts in public schools' music programs are perhaps less painful for hundreds of girls who love to sing.

The 325 girls currently enrolled in the SFGC's choruses and classes come from no fewer than 155 schools in 44 Bay Area cities; the chorus's outreach programs are responsible for the wide casting of the net. It's one reason the California Arts Council called the SFGC's education program "a model in the country."

To support the SFGC's programs, a black-tie-optional benefit will be held Thursday night, honoring Nancy Adler Montgomery, a longtime advocate for music education, and hosted by honorary chairman Gian Carlo Menotti, the revered composer.

"We are always reaching out," says executive director June Wylie. "We advertise for auditions in the newspapers, at libraries and at school performances. We ask the girls to recommend singers they know; we also ask music teachers."

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That doesn't necessarily mean they are looking for girls who are already considered musically gifted. "I think one of the important things about our program is that we will take any girl who can match pitch and has an aptitude for music. Our premise is that we can train any girl to be a good chorus musician."

In recent years, SFGC has established classes in the East Bay for girls for whom the travel to their Ellis Street San Francisco office proves difficult. They are held in a Mormon Church in Oakland.

Once a girl has expressed interest in joining the chorus, she auditions (auditions are held three times a year) and is evaluated for which of the six choruses she is best suited. "Four are training choruses," says artistic director Sharon Paul. "When they graduate from level four, they have a vocal exam, and then they can audition for Chorissima, our highest chorus, and then for the chamber group Virtuose."

Of the 325 girls currently enrolled, 27 percent get some scholarship funds to help pay for their participation, Wylie says. In addition, the chorus' outreach tries to seek a group that is well-rounded ethnically. "We seek diversity, both ethnic and economic - 33 percent of the group is non-Anglo."

Accompanying each level are music courses. "They have rehearsals twice a week for an hour and half, then music theory for another half an hour," says Paul. "It's serious education."

She says the benefits go far beyond the actual singing.

"There are so many other good things that come of it. Music education is important because it helps them focus their attention span, which helps them do better at other subjects. The lyrics help them learn about poetry. Their self confidence and poise are improved. And there is an intangible thing I see happening that helps girls recognize things that are beautiful. It can be very powerful."

"It's a Grand Night for Singing" takes place Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Grand Ballroom of the St. Francis Hotel. For ticket information, call the SFGC at 415-673-1511.&lt;